528: Chapter 80 String Skill 528: Chapter 80 String Skill “Creak!”
Sword light whirled in the air, reflecting the incredulous and angry expression of the woman on the cold blade of the wild grass sword.
Nalan Qiutong clapped her hands on the saddle and flew backwards; Xie Xuanyi followed closely behind.
He no longer skimmed across the ground but used his sword tip to tap the earth, leveraging himself into the air.
His long sword bent into an exaggerated arc, and after a tense recoil, he shot into the sky like a cannonball, thrusting his sword out like a butterfly piercing through the spring breeze—
The sea of flames in the sky shattered under the impact of Sword Qi.
The two had briefly crossed swords in the carriage before.
At that time, Xie Xuanyi had not used his full strength, and Nalan Qiutong had only been probing with her Xuanwei Technique doppelganger.
But now, things were different.
Every sword thrust from Xie Xuanyi contained the “Rule of Destruction”!
The snowy-white Sword Qi turned black!
Clang, Clang, Clang!
Dozens of streaks of Sword Qi burst into the air with a crisp sound of metal clashing, and although Nalan Qiutong’s complexion was pale, she did not panic.
She shed the disguise of the Xuanwei Technique; her entire figure, like smoke, escaped from the Camp Cang iron armor she wore.
Then, lifting her hands, she pressed down, and the entire suit of iron armor disassembled itself into countless pieces of iron, colliding with the Sword Qi!
Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes.
The seemingly randomly discarded iron armor broke apart in mid-air, managing to block the bursts of Sword Qi; it appeared to be a coincidence.
But it was not so.
Nalan Qiutong’s sleeves fluttered.
Countless silver threads were connected to the fragments of the iron armor on one end, and on the other, they were rapidly taken into the wide sleeves.
Was this Xuanwei Island’s “Control String Skill”?
…
…
Without Du Yunzhong’s presence, the Camp Cang iron cavalry was broken through by Xie Xuanyi alone.
The right-wing formation was utterly thrown into chaos, with many iron cavalry knocked off their horses.
Yet the deep woods of Duanchang Cliff remained still.
Piece after piece of talisman paper drifted out like snowflakes, covering the sea of flames in the sky.
Meng Kejian, who kept throwing out talismans, couldn’t help but exclaim when he saw this: “This Xie Zhen’s swordsmanship is not bad!”
He had watched the entire process clearly—
From the sword strike to storming the formation and then singling out Nalan Qiutong.
The entire process was clean and decisive, without any superfluous motions.
Could this really be done by a boy of only sixteen or seventeen?
“Sir, aren’t we taking action yet?”
The Yuzi Camp iron cavalry was itching to fight, but sadly, without Meng Kejian’s order, they could only greedily watch the slaughter on the mountain path.
If they didn’t intervene soon, Camp Cang would seize all the credit!
“No rush.”
Meng Kejian threw the last talisman paper and looked up at the blurry Array Talisman at the sky’s apex, smiling broadly: “… It’s still early.”
At this moment.
Inside the carriage.
True Master Jun Shan’s Divine Thought spread out, encompassing the Array Talisman of the Cage Immortal Array, turning it into chess pieces falling before Deng Baiyi.
Deng Baiyi stared intensely at the chessboard, her expression tense, but her eyes sparkled with flowing light.
“Point Three Three.”
“Heavenly Origin.”
As Meng Kejian at Duanchang Cliff continued to throw out Array Talismans, more and more chess pieces accumulated on these array plates, eventually forming the pattern of the array…
Deng Baiyi held her breath.
Xie Zhen was right; this grand array was designed to sever Primordial Energy and shield against divination, fundamentally almost identical to Great Chu’s “Dragon-locking Formation.”
Only this Cage Immortal Array was more sinister, constantly drawing upon the cultivator’s Divine Thought.
True Master Jun Shan raised his head.
In his sense of Divine Thought, just moments ago, Meng Kejian had thrown out the last Array Talisman of the “Cage Immortal Array.” With the initial formation taking shape, these talismans had begun to take root, and soon, the Cage Immortal Array would be firmly established—this moment was the last chance to break the array.
The child in the Daoist robe showed a rare solemn expression.
Purple lightning appeared silently above his brows, winding around.
His mastery of array patterns was not deep, but he knew…
Deng Baiyi had been cultivating for less than a year, and although this girl was extraordinarily talented and had followed Tang Fengshu to read many forbidden Talismanic Books, the “Cage Immortal Array” was a complex and profound grand array with hundreds of talisman papers.
Once set, it would change on its own, hiding the critical points of the array.
Could Deng Baiyi really pinpoint the weakness and flaw of the Cage Immortal Array?
“…”
True Master Jun Shan took a deep breath, prepared for the worst.
If Deng Baiyi failed to dismantle the array.
He would resort to forcibly breaking the array.
…
…
“Xie Zhen, you don’t know what’s good for you!”
Within the sea of fire, silver threads flashed by.
The iron armor shattered, scattered in all directions.
The two clashing figures separated, Xie Xuanyi firmly landing on the ground, while Nalan Qiutong steadied herself in the air after retreating a dozen steps.
Her sleeves fluttered, her expression cold, “I spared your life three times, giving you opportunities…
and after all, you still choose to oppose Da Li?”
Xie Xuanyi silently sheathed his wild grass sword and looked up, scoffing, “Since when did Li Kingdom bear the surname Nalan?”
At the moment the umbrella sword was sheathed.
Sword Intent burst forth again—
A cold light swept up from the ground, and without moving a muscle, Xie Xuanyi utilized his Sword Control Technique to send a strand of Sword Qi straight for Nalan Qiutong’s forehead!
Dang!
Once again, the sound of metal clashing thunderously erupted!
This time, the Flying Sword Skill did not easily take effect…
“…?”
Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes.
He knew well that the disciple of Nalan Xuance, currently second on the Heavenly Pride List, was not so easily dealt with.
That time in the carriage clash.
Nalan Qiutong’s avatar created by the Xuanwei Technique had almost reached the combat realm of the Cave Heaven Eighth Layer Heaven!
The fate of the Beihai Tomb is reversing.
Now is a golden era that comes rarely in several jiazi!
If it weren’t for him…
then the one surpassing all the young talents of Great Chu and sitting atop the Heavenly Pride List would be this Nalan Qiutong!
“Humming!”
In front of Nalan Qiutong, a circle of bright ripples spread out, transforming into a miniature Grotto Heaven, enveloping her inside, with countless silver threads like a canopy.
She began to deploy the true Xuanwei Island’s String Skill!
Within tens of yards, the sea of fire swayed, the ground trembled, and even Xie Xuanyi’s scabbard and clothes seemed to be pulled by silk threads—
As if the entire world was making Nalan Qiutong its center!
An invisible suction force began to surge.
Everything gravitated towards her!
Dang!
Xie Xuanyi shoved his umbrella sword into the ground, using it to steady his form.
He frowned slightly, and once again, the sound of horses neighing rang in his ears.
With a slight turn of his head, he caught sight of a dark and enormous shadow ferociously charging at him—a warhorse that had its hooves severed by him was under the control of the String Skill, its limbs reassembled, and charging at him with a deafening roar!
Xie Xuanyi did not dodge.
Instead, he brought two fingers together as if holding a sword and swept them in front of him!
The giant warhorse was ripped open from chest to abdomen, split in half, and immediately after the intersecting Sword Qi slashed through, the moment it collided with Xie Xuanyi, it was disassembled into countless chunks of flesh that slid to the ground—
Then something eerie happened.
As blood splattered and the life of the warhorse was severed, after being minced by the Sword Qi, it was still “twitching”…
The massive chunks of carcass on the ground were trembling and self-assembling, and in a moment’s time, they recombined into the skeletal outline of a huge warhorse!
Xie Xuanyi noticed that these severed chunks had a faint silver glow on them!
All creatures of this world cannot defy the Dao of Life and Death!
No matter how exquisite the String Skill of Xuanwei Island is, it could not bring back to life the warhorse he had slain…
The only explanation is that the “String Skill” had reassembled the carcass!
Connecting this to the previous exchange of blows.
Xie Xuanyi vaguely guessed what the Xuanwei Island’s Control String Skill really entailed.
Disassemble, reassemble.
During the previous exchange, Nalan Qiutong had removed her iron armor and disassembled it with the String Skill, using it to precisely block every wisp of Sword Qi.
Now, this fallen warhorse, already shattered to pieces, was still able to reform its shape, clearly due to the reconstruction by the String Skill.
This technique is different from the Heavenly Puppet Sect’s Corpse Refining Technique.
If he hasn’t guessed wrong, the Xuanwei Technique should be able to disassemble and assemble most inanimate objects in this world!
To not defy the Dao of Life and Death…
One must do one thing: if the disassembled and assembled object has spirit, it must first be annihilated to make it inanimate!
“Rumble!”
He saw the warhorses that Xie Xuanyi had previously struck down were all “standing” up again!
They wouldn’t have died so quickly…
But as soon as Nalan Qiutong’s String Skill was applied and the limbs were pieced together, their lives were directly erased!
The warhorses within the flames staggered to their feet.
They didn’t need time to rest; as soon as Nalan Qiutong’s String Skill completed assembling them, these behemoths charged forward bellowing, engulfed in pitch-black flames, like vengeful spirits reincarnated from hell!
The fallen soldiers of the Camp Cang were also covered with a faint silver glow.
Nalan Qiutong did not recklessly slaughter them…
They were elite troops under Chen Chong’s command, not to be killed off so easily, merely controlled in mind by the String Skill for her convenience in coordinating the siege.
These men quickly retreated, creating distance, all drawing their bows, aiming in unison at the young man clad in black!
“Have I heard that Sword Cultivators are skilled at killing?”
Nalan Qiutong spoke coldly from above: “Today in the Cage Immortal Array, let’s see how many you can kill!”
She waved her hand.
“Humming!”
A torrent of arrows poured down.
The reassembled steeds began their charge, with arrows pelting down, falling on them.
These beasts felt no pain, only charging forward.
The Cage Immortal Array, specially devised by Nalan Xuance, affects most Cultivators…
but a disciple who has comprehended their own Xuanwei Technique is precisely the exception.
Holding the Control String Skill, Nalan Qiutong, at this moment, had become the leader of Camp Cang.
Even if Xie Xuanyi slaughtered all the iron cavalry, it mattered not to her.
The fallen warhorses could be reassembled.
And so could the dead soldiers.
The sea of fire tumbled as Xie Xuanyi stood at the very center.
His hands pressed on the hilt of the umbrella sword, resisting the pull of the String Technique Cave Heaven and the suppression of the Cage Immortal Array.
Xie Xuanyi took a deep breath.
He raised his head.
A dense barrage of arrowheads poured down like rain, and the terrifying sound of their descent was instantaneous.
“Ding ding ding!”
He neither dodged nor unleashed the Sword Qi Domain.
Instead, he just stood there.
Primordial Fire ignited his meridians, and the Great Acupoints rumbled with thunder.
In an instant, his black shirt shattered, revealing golden, iron-like skin.
Hundreds of arrowheads fell, striking his skin, truly as if droplets of rain.